Maximilian Bröcher

• since 2020 PhD student at the Institute of Ecology and Evolution, FSU Jena
• 2020 M. Sc. in Evolution, Ecology and Systematics, FSU Jena
• 2017 B. Sc. in Biology, FSU Jena

I studied Ecology with focus on biodiversity research and with a particular interest in arthropods and how they contribute to ecosystem functioning. Arthropod consumers are important drivers of plant community assembly, plant diversity and providers of ecosystem functions. Furthermore, consumer-related functions as predation or herbivory transfer matter and energy from primary producers to higher trophic levels. Thus, using a food-web perspective I explore mechanisms of how arthropod consumers are affected by changes in plant communities and vice versa. In previous projects I investigated consumer-related functions in artificial flower strips. Currently, I use the framework of the Jena Experiment to conduct my research.

Halliday, F.W., Everingham, S.E., Bröcher, M., Ebeling, A., Kempel, A., Mundim, F.M., Strauss, A.T., Xirocostas, Z.A. & Kohli, M. (2025). Towards an integrative mechanistic framework for biodiversity-consumer relationships. Trends in Ecology & Evolution doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2025.03.005External link

Bröcher, M., Meyer, S.T., Leher, A.G. & Ebeling, A. (2025). Ecological traits for 1374 arthropod species collected in a German grassland. Ecology 106: e70077. doi: 10.1002/ecy.70077External link

Li, Y., Schuldt, A., Ebeling, A., Eisenhauer, N., Huang, Y., Albert, G., Albracht, C., Amyntas, A., Bonkowski, M., Bruelheide, H., Bröcher, M., Chesters, D., Chen, J., Chen, Y., Chen, J.T., Ciobanu, M., Deng, X., Fornoff, F., Gleixner, G., Guo, L., Guo, P.F., Heintz-Buschart, A., Klein, A.M., Lange, M., Li, S., Li, Q., Li, Y., Luo, A., Meyer, S.T., von Oheimb, G., Rutten, G., Scholten, T., Solbach, M.D., Staab, M., Wang, M.Q., Zhang, N., Zhu, C.D., Schmid, B., Ma, K. & Liu, X. (2024). Plant diversity enhances ecosystem multifunctionality via multitrophic diversity. Nature Ecology & Evolution 8: 2037–2047. doi: 10.1038/s41559-024-02517-2External link 

Bröcher, M., Meyer, S.T., Eisenhauer, N. & Ebeling, A. (2024). The positive plant diversity-consumer relationship is independent of grassland age. Basic and Applied Ecology doi: 10.1016/j.baae.2024.02.006External link

Dietrich, P., Ebeling, A., Meyer, S.T., Bonato Asato, A.E., Bröcher, M., Gleixner, G., Huang, Y., Roscher, C., Schmid, B., Vogel, A. & Eisenhauer, N. (2024). Plant diversity and community age stabilize ecosystem multifunctionality. Global Change Biology doi: 10.1111/gcb.17225External link

Bassi, L., Hennecke, J., Albracht, C., Bröcher, M., Solbach, M.D., Schaller, J., Doan, V., Wagner, H., Eisenhauer, N., Ebeling, A., Meyer, S.T., van Dam, N.M. & Weigelt, A. (2023). Uncovering the secrets of monoculture yield decline: trade-offs between leaf and root chemical and physical defence traits in a grassland experiment. Oikos 2023: e10061.  doi: 10.1111/oik.10061External link

Bröcher, M., Ebeling, A., Hertzog, L., Roscher, C., Weisser, W. & Meyer, S.T. (2023). Effects of plant diversity on species-specific herbivory: patterns and mechanisms. Oecologia 201: 1053-1066. doi: 10.1007/s00442-023-05361-6External link